Fool Me Once
by fandomhive
Summary: Yao Wang is a trained assassin hired to kill Ivan Braginski, a notorious Russian Drug Lord. There is one problem, however. How can he possibly murder the man that he's falling in love with?


Yao lay back in the splendour of his apartment. He'd never been given such beautiful quarters to live in – even if they were only hired for a night. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before; spacious, lavish.

He hated it.

There was a cold and inhuman feeling about the place. Even if it was meant to be minimalistic, there was an unnerving edge to it that couldn't be ignored. It held no memories, just like everywhere else. Even so much as a moment of glancing into the bedroom would tell that it certainly did not belong to a person at all and was simply hired space. Yao was after all, a pawn in the assassin industry. He went where his boss told him to.  
He gazed back on the information he'd been given with a little hiss.

Ivan Braginski – one of the most renowned drug lords ever to exist in the area.

Suddenly, a ring sounded.  
Yao was always ordered to keep his back. It was one of the prime rules in his line of work. He had no identity in this world, of course, and if he did, he'd be dead. His mentor; 'Alfred Jones' they called him, though it wasn't his real name, warned him to never answer calls from anybody but him. He was given a new phone for each mission, a new address, a new life. It was impossible to track him. He sighed as he received the call.

"_Wang Yao." _Purred the tone. Yes, it was definitely Alfred. That obnoxious piece of-  
"What?"  
"You only have an hour left. Do you have the equipment?"  
"Shi and it is ludicrous. I've took a little glance inside that bag and I have a question for you. Is this Braginski guy a fucking pervert? I'm a _man, _Jones. This has to be the most degrading mission you've ever put me on."

There was a cold laugh on the other end of the phone that made Yao prickle with anger.

"You _know _that he won't take you in if you're a man. He doesn't want another one of those. He wants something pretty to trot after him around the house, right? So if you play up the act, you won't need brute force to kill the scumbag. You just need to earn his trust. You're doing it for the money, remember?"  
"Shi." He replied instantly.  
"I'll be contacting you tomorrow morning to discuss tactics with you."  
"How can you if I won't have my phone?"  
"…I'll find a way to contact you."

Yao snarled, tossing his phone onto the floor. He made sure to stamp it further into the carpet as he made his way to the bag and poured the contents out. A comb, a decorative hair piece and a red silk dress spilled out. With eyes shut tight he dressed himself and let his hair fall down, fixing the blossom clip towards the back of his head.  
He looked the mirror image of any middle class beauty from China.  
There were a few differences, however. Yao had set about gaining various cuts and bruises across his face and arms in preparation for this days before. His silk dress was torn in strategic places, muddy and wet where it trailed.

With tightened lips the Chinese assassin awaited his ride.

"So the rumours were true, huh?" spoke Mr. Kirkland, a personal chauffeur of Alfred and his associates. He was the only one trusted enough with information, and became somewhat of a close friend of Yao's. His relationship with Alfred was a mystery, however.

"What rumour?" mumbled Yao, avoiding any form of eye contact from sheer shame.  
"That you're going undercover in _that. _You look like a bloody woman!" he scoffed.  
"I'm rather aware of that. But it's all to get this bastard dead, aru. That way, you won't have to worry about him killing your boyfriend. Sorry, I mean, _boss."_

There was a brief spell of silence before the two laughed. It seemed strange to find humour in times of disagreement, but the both of them understood that it all boiled down to stress. Yao could lose his life any day, especially at this crucial moment. If he couldn't pull this little stunt off…he'd be dead.

The car door opened a few minutes away from Braginski's home. It was pouring with rain outside – the ideal conditions for the situation that Yao was in.  
"Ready, chap?"  
"Shi."  
"One…two…three!"

He was shoved into one of the muddy puddles that had gathered in the cold water. It created the perfect effect, too. Arthur drove off quickly, but still gave Yao the chance to see his reflection in the car mirror. The Chinese man's hair was long and damp, sticking to his paled skin and making him look particularly weak. The dress was worse than ever, both dirtied and torn now. It was the perfect disguise.

He stumbled through the rain, remembering his mentor's words ringing through his ears.  
_Play nice. Don't tell the truth. Under any circumstances, don't get caught.  
_ The rain was only worsening when Yao was face to face with Ivan's front door. And my, what a house it was. It was bigger than anything he'd ever seen, almost frightening in its size. It was white, with many dimly lit windows and a garden that took a good few minutes to trail through. Yao gulped before knocking on the door, eyes shut tight.

Eventually, a small man answered. He seemed to tremble at the sight of somebody at the door – but this was not unusual. Yao had been warned that Ivan was an intimidating man, that he had a trio of brothers working for him for free. All out of fear.

"H-Hello?" murmured the man, shaking his eyes free of any blonde hair that fell before it.  
Yao collapsed to his feet, hands together in mercy.  
"Please help me!" he whimpered. "Are you Mr. Braginski?"

_Of course he wasn't. But Yao had to be clever._

"N-No!" his eyes widened in alarm, as if it was a terrible thing to go by such a name. "I'll…go and fetch him!" he scuttled off, murmuring to himself as he did so.

*-*-*

"A pretty woman? Are you sure that you aren't tricking me, little Ravis?" spoke Ivan as he strolled into the hallway. His Russian accent was prominent, the tone patronising. He didn't believe him. It was then that he stopped at the sight of Yao. He simply froze, lips slightly parted. Yao was…_beautiful._

Weak and vulnerable, tattered and torn and soaked by the rain, lying on Ivan's doorstep and begging for a place to stay.  
How could he resist?  
He strolled up to the heap, lifting her up by a gentle press of his fingers on her elegant chin.

"Do you have a name?" he asked softly.  
Yao nodded. "Chun-Yan, aru." He stuttered, eyes wide and unblinking.

He could have slit his throat right then and there when the Russian pulled him to his feet with a seemingly warm smile.

"You may stay with me. We just need to sort out some….living arrangements, da? But we shall ponder this after a meal!" Ivan pushed Yao into the arms of Ravis, who yelped slightly before scuttling down the corridors and showing this mysterious woman to one of the guest rooms. He couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to her.

"I-I'm awfully sorry! We don't have any women's clothes! I hope that this will be enough!" he squeaked, handing a white jumper and jeans to her.  
"I will be sure to fix your dress, Chun-Yan!"

Yao nodded softly, brushing the hair from his face. It was a benefit sometimes, that he looked so feminine.  
Ravis took a deep breath. "Be careful around Mr. Braginski!" he warned, a light blush on his cheeks before the colour drained completely. It was as if the penny dropped and he realised that he'd spoke disloyally about his boss.  
"Please don't tell him that I told you that!" he cried out before running from the room and leaving Yao to dress alone.

The jumper and jeans were much too big. It was a blessing, really. Where Yao had the curves of a female, he certainly had no bust anywhere. Padding would only have caused more problems though. What if Ivan decided that he wanted to sleep with Yao? No, he had to be as sexually undesirable as possible. But still heart-wrenching. Now it was time to feed Ivan his story.

Food was laid out for Yao, under the orders that "Chun-Yan needs her strength back." He made sure to thank Ivan as he ate, but still did so cautiously. For all he knew, he could have been drugged already.

"So, what brings you here?" asked the Russian.  
Yao's head pricked up from the plate. He almost choked on his food at the sudden inquisition.  
"My…husband left me, aru. Left me out in the rain with nowhere to go. I have been travelling to find you. Word in the city says that you are a kind and whole-hearted man, aru."

_Word in the city says the opposite._

Still, the response seemed to light Ivan up, and he even smiled a little.  
"Wonderful! Well, I offer you my guest room quarters to live in, da? Until you find a place to stay. I, Ravis, Eduard and Toris will be happy to have you." The smile brightened further as he motioned to his servants.  
"If they try anything on with you, _anything at all, _tell me and I will happily sever their wrists!" he laughed softly, clapping his hands together. "Joking!" he spoke, but it wasn't genuine.

Yao shuddered. His mission was a death sentence for sure.

Author's note!

So the idea for this story came into my head today, and I couldn't help but write it. Thank you for reading so far! Reviews, comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated, da?


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